Boons

+ATK: Ephraim's best IV in most of his sets is an Attack boon which lets him take full advantage of the guaranteed followup attacks that his legendary Siegmund can grant him.

+DEF: A Defense boon helps his survivability and his ability to stay above the HP threshold for a refined Siegmund.

Neutral

HP: Ephraim's HP is decent, and while he can't use it to reliably Panic Ploy, many of his builds rely on him keeping his HP above a certain threshold, which is easier with higher HP. Therefore, a bane should be avoided if possible.

Banes

-SPD: Because he has guaranteed doubles on initiation, Ephraim does not care for Speed unless running Windsweep.

-RES: Resistance is not a strong stat of his and can readily be discarded if he can increase one of his more crucial stats.

With this set, Ephraim gives up some of his support utility to become an extremely potent offensive unit. With his weapon's ability to strike twice with high HP, his priority then falls to ensuring that his HP remains above the threshold as much as he can. This is done one of two ways:

Heavy Blade (as an Attack boon Ephraim with Death Blow reaches 58 Attack), Aether, and Vantage: Ephraim's guaranteed double and significant chance of Heavy Blade proc ensures that after his first combat, he will have Aether primed and ready to fire. If he is within Vantage range, he will attack the next enemy who initiates on him with Aether in the following Enemy Phase. Ideally, this will kill his opponent and allow Ephraim to heal himself to where he will be in range for his weapon to proc the double attack again.

Sturdy Blow + Renewal is less risky, with the bonus of being able to proc a guaranteed Glimmer during your first turn. However, with this, Ephraim relies on Sturdy Blow's Defense bonus to prevent him from taking too much damage on the retaliation and then falls back to Renewal to heal up what he might have lost. This Ephraim will have difficulty healing off more damage within a respectable amount of time. Also, Sturdy Blow's Defense bonus is useless when attacking dragons or mages with Close Counter.

Wrath is the ideal A slot for Ephraim if you intend on running him as a strictly Player Phase unit, as it will help to mitigate the cooldown of Aether if he's below the threshold of doubling. This means that even if he doesn't have Aether primed at the end of his first combat, Wrath will allow him to prime it before his next combat, as well as offer him additional damage that he can use to further heal himself back into the range of Siegmund's pursuit effect. However, if Ephraim is at risk of being attacked after his first engagement, then Vantage would be a better pick, as it will allow him to attempt to finish off his opponent before he takes further damage in Enemy Phase.

If he's lacking a buffer on his team and you want Ephraim to be a full offensive powerhouse, rather than a hybrid damage/support, then Odd Atk Wave is his ideal choice in C slot. This skill will offer him 64 Attack on initiation, giving him a more reliable shot at activating Heavy Blade for more damaging Specials. If using him as a buffer, it still benefits his team for him to run Hone Spd in his C slot more than most other C slot buffs to ensure that he's still capable of buffing a potential ally, and since Speed is Ephraim's dump stat, he's more suited to giving away that particular buff than any other.

Legendary Ephraim's introduction to the game allowed for his initial infantry form to inherit the Flame Siegmund, a powerful legendary weapon which offers Ephraim the ability to secure a followup attack, as long as there are more opponents around him than there are allies. Unlike Siegmund's initial enhancement, Flame Siegmund works in both phases and has no HP requirement, which offers much more flexibility in his build options.

This does come with the drawback of eliminating Ephraim's support capability, as his Siegmund's natural Attack buff to allies is applied only to himself when he wields Flame Siegmund. In addition, it makes him far more reliant on positioning which may be more difficult in tightly-packed maps, particularly due to Ephraim's 2 tile movement as opposed to Legendary Ephraim's 3 tile movement. Due to this, Flame Siegmund can be seen more as a sidegrade than a direct upgrade to a refined Siegmund.

Despite the drawbacks, the ability to double in Enemy Phase as well as Player Phase negates the necessity for Quick Riposte, which opens Ephraim's B slot to run lethal skills like Wrath, Chill Def, or Desperation. Guard is another option for a more defensive Ephraim, however its stringent HP requirement does not play well with Ephraim's lone warrior playstyle.

Death Blow would be Ephraim's preferred A slot if the intent is to run him predominately in Player Phase, however if you'd rather use him as an Enemy Phase tank, then Steady Breath would be optimal, and for a flexible Mixed Phase option, Fury is the best skill which grants him Attack and Defense at all times.

Heavy Blade is a no-brainer for a Player Phase Ephraim (though note that it will not stack with Steady Breath on Enemy Phase), and it will likely proc due to his 63 Attack (69 if self-buffed with Odd Attack wave). This allows for longer cooldown specials such as Aether to heal off damage, or Dragon Fang, which would hit for an additional 45 damage with his Death Blow/Wrath/Odd Atk Wave set.

Ignis is another option of Special, which would be run primarily on an Enemy Phase Ephraim who would rather take Close Defense Seal due to Heavy Blade's lack of Synergy with Steady Breath. A +Def/Steady Breath/Wrath/Close Defense build allows his Ignis procs to hit for an additional 46 damage.

Smite is chosen as his Support skill to help him fulfill the requirements of his Flame Siegmund, by forcing his allies away from him in order to keep him outnumbered by his opponents. Smite may be best served on an Enemy Phase oriented Ephraim, as he would spend his Player Phase pushing his allies away from him.

Although his prowess during Player Phase is remarkable, Ephraim functions very well as an Enemy Phase tank, particularly when stacking his defenses and utilizing skills such as Steady Breath and Quick Riposte. With a boon, his Defense hits 35, and further increasing with Defense forge/Steady Breath/Close Defense gives him an unbuffed Defense of 49, which is more than enough to fend off melee attacks from powerful reds and blues alike. When combined Aether, Ephraim can use his Special in the first engagement if doubled (as he should be, with a bane in Speed) and heal off the damage he's taken in that particular engagement. This set leaves him very vulnerable to magic and dragons, an issue which is solved in his next iteration of this build.

With a Resistance boon and forge on Siegmund, Ephraim reaches a Resistance stat of 27. With a Distant Def seal added in, his Resistance stat when attacked by a mage grows to a decent 33 with no outside support. This allows him to be a remarkably decent ranged counter, capable of striking back against tomes and bows alike. With this set, he can eliminate magical threats such as Delthea, Linde, and Christmas Tharja, as well as bow units and daggers, such as Bridal Cordelia or Klein.

Ephraim can also run Glimmer in an attempt to KO opponents with Brave weapons, as he will retaliate with a charged Glimmer shot on his first attack. With a Resistance-focused set, Ephraim can barely survive an attack from an unmerged Attack boon Death Blow Reinhardt, but will require buffs to his Resistance to survive him if the Reinhardt is significantly merged or buffed.

With this set, Ephraim's primary focus is buffing his teammates and acting as an anti-red unit. He does this by sacrificing his Assist, C slot, and seal slot in order to give maximum buff potential, for an impressive +4/+4/+4/+4 buff.

However, that does not necessarily mean that his combat ability is gone, as Ephraim is still able to double on initiation with his forge. He can also continue acting as a good blue defensive tank, walling and taking down enemy walls for your team. His A slot goes to Triangle Adept, which will make him your team's guaranteed anti-red unit and give him optimal matchups against even red mages who might otherwise pose a threat to him. Alternatively, you can give him some semblance of his above build with a combination of Death Blow and Renewal, which utilizes his forge's effective ability while retaining his support utility.

Steady Breath and Quick Riposte are also very viable options, which would work best with a Defensive refine on his lance. This turns Ephraim into a defensive tank, capable of unleashing Aether Special procs and healing off any damage he might receive. While giving him his special Pursuit forge on his lance allows him to more safely take down the likes of Ayra, Soleil, Mia, and Karla, his general sustain and capabilities as a generalist are more favorable with a more Enemy Phase-focused build.

He works best with green bladetome mages, such as Nino or Rhajat, due to his ability to provide buffs while also easily dismantling any red unit who threatens them, though he can be a benefit with any sort of bladetome on his team.

Introduction

Ephraim is a bulky lance wielder with exceptional power and supporting ability thanks to his fantastic legendary weapon, Siegmund. He boasts the rare ability to give a total of 16 points of buffs at once (with buffs on Siegmund, Support slot, C slot, and Seal slot), making him a fantastic support for the powerful Blade tome users. Siegmund's power is even greater when considering its refinement or its Flame Siegmund sidegrade, both of which offers him the ability to attack twice regardless of his low Speed. In addition, his high Attack and Defense make him a very solid counter to the numerous red swords that flood the game.

However, his low Resistance and Speed consistently get him doubled by his foe and makes him vulnerable to all magic, particularly green tomes. Despite these flaws, his ability to buff allies while holding his ground against physical units makes him an excellent pick for almost any team.

Strengths

Incredible Buffer

With a forged Siegmund, Ephraim is able to buff +4 Attack. When coupled with a rally, C slot, and seal, Ephraim is one of only two units in the game who is capable of giving a full +4/+4/+4/+4 spectrum of buffs, making his utility as an infantry Blade tome buffer unparalleled. Ephraim is capable of buffing any of his allies in this manner, and while he shines with a Blade tome, he is a fantastic support unit for any unit in the game.

Forged Legendary Weapon

Both a forged Siegmund and Flame Siegmund grant Ephraim a guaranteed followup attack if the proper conditions are met, which makes Ephraim a force to be reckoned with. This allows him immense flexibility in build options, as he can be run in either phase with ease.

Great Attack and Defense

Though he's typically thought of as a support unit, Ephraim's Defense makes him a good candidate for a brutal Quick Riposte build. Conversely, his high Attack and fantastic legendary weapon combined with his weapon forge turn Ephraim into a force to be reckoned with in the Player Phase.

Weaknesses

Low Speed

Despite his weapon forge's ability to bypass his low Speed in order to double in the Player Phase, it still hurts him during the Enemy Phase, as many enemy units will double him. His guaranteed follow-up attack also does not negate his opponent's own follow-up attack, and If something can survive his initial two attacks then it's likely that they will double him in turn.

Low Resistance

Ephraim is very weak to green and blue mages alike, who are very popular in the meta right now. Nino is ever-present, and now, Gunnthrá poses a threat to him as well. This also increases his chance of getting ployed by enemy units with a high Resistance stat.

Heavy Competition

As a physical lancer, Ephraim faces heavy competition for his slot on the team. Units like Tana, Effie, or Cordelia rival his offensive utility and have the added benefit of being able to be placed in movement-type-exclusive teams. As a support lancer, Brave Lucina rivals him in utility, though her buffing effect will not affect blade tomes. He also fights Azura and Sharena for support lancer spots on a team.

Team Options

Ephraim's utility as a support lancer gives him a wide array of team options. He will work with almost any unit in the game- after all, who doesn't want free buffs?

Infantry Blade Tomes: His strongest allies are, without a doubt, infantry Blade tome users due to his unique ability to give them the spectrum of +4/+4/+4/+4 buffs. Units like Nino, Tharja, and Linde are all top tier in this regard.

Strong Reds: At the same time, he benefits from units who can cover his weaknesses, or in other words, red units who can kill encroaching greens, such as Sanaki, Ryoma, and Black Knight.

Healers: Healers who can heal him up to full for his weapon forge effect are also greatly appreciated, such as Lucius, Elise, Bridal Lyn, and Genny.

This build tries to make Ephraim into a bit of a mixed phase brawler, while still functioning as a support, drawing a bit of inspiration from his CYL version.

His Res gets patched with a boon and Warding Breath, so he gets decent 32/27 mixed bulk. By playing with Even Spd Wave, he can either allow Nowi/Fjorm/Ike to double, and proc Aether, or get his Spd high enough to deny a double, saving himself a second hit, which is useful if he already took something out with a PP double attack, gaining 3 charges in the process.

QR has a relatively forgiving threshold compared to Siegmund, so even after he loses his PP, he still has a powerful EP. Or, if he's below QR range, he can hold Aether for next turn, and use it on something at full health.

He can also deal with things designed to proc guaranteed Specials, like SB/QP BK, or Slaying Edge Ayra, taking them out with a guaranteed double, and defusing their Special as well.

Even Spd Wave synergizes very well with Siegmund's HA3, especially for blade mages who tend to value Spd over Atk, while also getting Ephraim's Spd from Alfonse tier into Ike tier.

Note that while this build can deal with the average non-green infantry Dragon, it is borderline against Bold Fighter, 180 BST, armored Dragons.

The best thing, of course, would be to get yourself an armored Ephraim, for a fair fight.

Otherwise, ideally, a Green Mage (preferably with Desperation, if not, with good mixed bulk - Owl Soren with Spd/Def Seal makes a great dragon duelist) should deal with them. That's what HA3 Siegmund and Spd Wave are there for.

However, the build can be tweaked, if necessary, by refining for Flame Siegmund, freeing up the S slot for CDef, pushing Ephraim's EP bulk to 38/33, and his Atk to 54.

This lets him tank two 53 point magical hits, (assuming the Special is timed for the second hit! - YMMV. Res Wave from his CYL buddy, or a spare Aversa, is another option.) and hit back for (12 * 2) + 21 against 42 Def, for 45 Dmg. Convenient.

While a fully PP, DB4 setup will allow him to avoid forced doubles, by hitting harder on PP, the mixed phase version allows him to effectively use Aether, for better long term sustain, while still taking out non-green infantry (and some red armor) on PP.

This is one of the best high investment dual-phase builds you can use for Ephraim.

Flame Siegmund is great for allowing Ephraim to double on both phases, letting him duel with his good attack stat and walk up to squishy ranged units for a quick kill. It also gives him a free 3 attack adding to his already high total.

Smite seems niche, but is incredibly powerful given his Flame Siegmund and B skill. He can charge into combat and push his team away, while providing himself a huge bonus to his killing power and defensive power as well.

Aether is the go-to special when combined with Steady Breath. If Ephraim gets doubled (which is likely given his low speed), he will always activate Aether back thanks to Flame Siegmund. Aether's healing helps bring his HP pool back up to keep him strong in enemy territory.

Steady Breath is the most high investment skill here, and Ephraim uses it wonderfully. With his naturally high defense, he can tank hits and keep on trucking. Steady breath gives him 4 more to work with, as well as accelerates his special charging making him a formidable foe for melee threats.

Attack/Defense Link is an incredible skill, letting Ephraim provided himself buffs as well as provide the same buffs to him teammates if there is a threat present he cannot handle alone. When combined with Flame Siegmund and Smite, he can take on the enemy alone with extra power.

Odd Attack Wave 3 is my preference skill due to it buffing himself and his allies simultaneously, but is completely player preference. I also have Odd Res wave 3 to shore up his weakest defensive stat in the presence of dragons.

Close Defense 3 is here to help out his good defense and bad res, letting him Enemy Phase tank more threats effectively.

Because of Siegmund, Ephraim can be possibly one of the best buffing units in the game, being able to Drive and Rally every stat on a unit. Plus, with his refine and Death Blow, Ephraim can definitely hold his own on the battlefield. This build overall can fit on almost any team, because who doesn’t want easy buffs?

So a few orbs in a random banner this guy Ephraim appeared. Pitybreakers are always nice. Unfortunately not all pitybreakers are fun and cool. Ephraim ain’t one of them however as I fine with him. His ivs are neutral which is not bad at all. Neutral is always good if you can’t get the ideal nature of the character you want. This is a build I want to use on him. It tends to be a way to make it so that he can make use of his weapon’s effects while also acting as a buffbot.
For his weapon obviously keep Siegmund. There is no reason why you should replace a lengendary weapon unless you want to do something crazy. It has a build in hone atk 2 and will have hone atk 3 when refined. For refinement I prefer the effect where it allows him to double as long as he’s above 90% hp. It’s similar to brash assault but unlike brash assault, Siegmund’s refinement doesn’t have that restriction where it requires you to be fighting a enemy who can counterattack. Meaning Ephraim will always double and he will be doubling the foe regardless of their speed.
For his assist skill I went for rally def/res for a boost of 3 in def and res. As well as making him a buffbot.
For his special his default moonbow is preferred. i used to think glimmer was good on him but in a case where Ephraim has to fight something really bulky moonbow is gonna do more favor than with glimmer. Glimmer only really helps against squishy units. Against bulky units glimmer becomes useless. And that’s where moonbow comes in.

For the A skill as mentioned I went for death blow. He will gain 57 atk in the player phase assuming if he’s neutral atk. With attack boon or attack+3 sacred seal he’ll reach 60 atk.

For his B skill I went for chill def. I made a sacrifice by sacking one of the Walhart copies I got from his ghb. With chill def Ephraim can be debuff any foe who dares to have high def. This is also useful for any unit who struggles to deal damage without a special. I used to go for renewal but I don’t think I want that cause most battles in arena often don’t take a long time.

For his C skill I prefer drive spd since the team he is in now has a separate visible spd buffer.

Overall my Ephraim is a good build. Pretty much I made him a player phase unit but also a supportive one. I know I said to myself that I’d be building some bad units, but I don’t know why I find some good units cool to use. Of course it’s definitely not because of their high atk and other things that makes them good. Ever since I got Ephraim, I immediately started liking him due to how he can function as a buffbot.